Cocktail Reception
The first day of the Conference will conclude with an elegant evening cocktail reception at the historic San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila. We invite you to this extraordinary event where Philippine history, culture, and heritage come alive in a venue unlike any other.
Shuttle services will be provided to transport all participants to and from the venue.
San Agustin Church, originally called Iglesia de San Pablo, holds the distinct honor of being the first stone church in the Philippines. The land was assigned to the Augustinian Friars by Adelantado Miguel López de Legazpi upon the order of King Philip II of Spain. There were three attempts to build the church starting in 1571 made of nipa palm leaves and wood posts that were easily destroyed. The Augustinians decided to build a church made of stone in 1586. The construction of the present church started in 1587 and was completed in 1604. The 420th anniversary of the construction of the church will be celebrated this year: 1604-2024. The church survived several invasions, earthquakes, and calamities: a lone survivor of World War II. It was in the San Agustin Church compound where the Treaty of Paris was drafted in 1898 and where the First Philippine Plenary Council was held in 1953.
San Agustin Church has been recognized as a National Cultural Treasure since 1973, a National Historical Landmark in 1976, and a declared UNESCO World Heritage Site under the inscription Baroque Churches of the Philippines in 1993. The specific attributes of this church are its retablo altars of high Baroque style, the ceiling paintings of trompe l’oeil style and wall buttresses separating crypto-collateral chapels. The tomb of the founder of Manila, Miguel López de Legazpi, can be found near the main altar of the church. The canonically crowned image of Our Lady of Consolation and Cincture is also enshrined in one of the chapels.
The San Agustin Church is under the auspices of the Order of St. Augustine, the Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus of the Philippines. The Augustinians are also custodians of centuries-old Ecclesiastical Collections including the oldest cantorals, the oldest existing pipe organ in the Philippines, and rare books housed in Museo San Agustin and the San Agustin Center for Historical and Archival Research.